Manners: Life of the Party

Readymade for the status-seeking Washington
hostess who is worried lest her cocktail party fall flat: the
You-Rent-a-Cocktail Party Crowd. Invented by Writer C.D.B. Bryan for
the funny crew of a funny supper-club routine at the Captain's Table in
Georgetown, the device is described thus:

"We provide the people who arrive for the first half-hour of a cocktail
party, since none of the invited guests come that early. Our people
wear decorations, sashes, beautiful evening gowns, saris, and various
other native costumes. They talk animatedly about politics. As the real
guests arrive, the rented crowd fades away, leaving behind it
matchbooks imprinted